Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was understandably cautious in assessing new acquisition Antonio Brown’s progress on the field prior to yesterday’s match. Just a week removed from inking a contract that would net him $15 million for the 2019 campaign, he couldn’t possibly know all the play calls of the defending champions heading into yesterday’s set-to. “A long way to go,” the bench tactician told members of the media after practice Friday. “The systems that he’s been in are quite different … He’s working hard to pick [ours] up, and we’re working hard to get it to him.”
That said, all eyes stayed on Brown as the Patriots took on the Dolphins at the Hard Rock Stadium. And, to his credit, he didn’t disappoint. Never mind his late signing, or his controversial offseason that kept him from staying sharp under organized drills, or the civil lawsuit that figures to divide his time and focus. Before the second quarter of his first stint with his third team of the summer ended, he managed to score a touchdown off a 20-yard beauty from quarterback Tom Brady. It was his fourth catch of the half, during which he participated in roughly a third of the snaps.
Looking back, Brown couldn’t have had a better start. He was called up on the Patriots’ second set of the day, and Brady immediately went to him down the middle for 18 yards. They would connect twice more for 10 and eight yards on the opening drive; in fact, he proved to be the only on-air target through 11 plays that ended with a one-yard touchdown run. He wasn’t as successful after the half; three attempts to find him in the red zone ended up incomplete, clearly borne of lack of familiarity with places, preferences, and predilections. Still, his mere presence served to keep the Dolphins guessing. Between Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, and him, the defense was hard-pressed to keep up.
To be sure, there wasn’t much need for Brown yesterday, not with the Dolphins so thoroughly overmatched that oddsmakers pegged them to be 18-point underdogs going in. And the Patriots, true to form, didn’t let up. Brady handled the pigskin to the finish, overseeing a shutout that saw them run up their own score to 43. Nonetheless, the unanimous first-team All-Pro selection cannot but be a valuable asset moving forward — assuming, of course, that the National Football League doesn’t step in while his sexual assault case is being tried.
Brown was gone by the time scribes were allowed inside the Patriots’ locker room. Even his name plate was out of sight, in violation of NFL policy requiring teams to “ensure that name plates with players’ names and numbers are left in position until after the locker room has cleared of media.” Which, if nothing else, underscores the fragility of his situation. In any case, life goes on for the titleholders, who, at the very least, proved once more that, under Belichick, talent begets results regardless of circumstance.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
